


Between Friends

by HariWrites



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya Césaire Is The Best, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Identity Reveal, Nino is along for the ride, Nonsense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 16:44:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13768293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HariWrites/pseuds/HariWrites
Summary: Alya is determined to get Marinette and Adrien together so when she and Nino make a couple of interesting discoveries, she's quick to act.





	Between Friends

Nino knew it would come to this. Back when Alya first confessed that Marinette’s crush was his best friend, he knew the time would come when Alya wanted to set Marinette and Adrien up. 

After Marinette’s birthday party, Alya was keen to attempt a double date, but Adrien couldn’t make it and Marinette got upset at Andre the ice cream guy. 

To Nino, it felt like an invasion of privacy of sorts. He remembered how awkward it was when Adrien had pushed him to ask out Marinette, compared to how natural it felt when he and Alya finally admitted their feelings about each other. Ok, it had taken being locked in a cage by Ladybug to make that happen, but that wasn’t the point. Adrien clearly liked Marinette so why couldn’t they just leave them to figure things out on their own?

“Because, Nino, Adrien is clueless and Marinette is terrified of making a fool of herself,” Alya explained. “We have to do this for them.”

“But, I’m almost certain that Adrien has a crush on Ladybug.” Nino countered.

“Hmmph.” Alya grunted. Nino knew that wouldn’t be the end of it.

Some weeks later, as the couple hung out at Nino’s place, he brought the subject up himself.

Alya was sitting on Nino’s bed, back against the pillow and legs draped across Nino’s lap as she edited submissions to the school blog. Nino was reading  _ The Flowers of Evil _ , by Charles Baudelaire for Mlle  Bustier’s literature class and desperately needed a distraction.

“He obviously likes Marinette, how can we show him just how much he likes her?” He mused, book forgotten.

“What are you talking about?” Alya eyed him suspiciously.

“Adrien. I know he has a crush on Ladybug, but I can see how great he thinks Marinette is too. How do we get him to realise it?” He said.

“Hmmmm…” Alya closed her laptop and set it on the dresser next to Nino’s bed. “Why don’t we show him how much Marinette is like Ladybug?”

“Are you outing Marinette right now?” Nino asked cautiously.

“Of course not, silly!” She playfully slapped his arm, “I think I’d know if my best friend was Paris’s superheroine. Credit me with that much. No, we just need him to see all the qualities that Mari shares with LB.” 

The plan was simple, Nino would pretend that Alya had forced him into helping her research an article on class presidents for the school blog. It was believable enough, Alya was always roping him into things like that. He would ask Adrien for his thoughts on Marinette under this guise, then point out just how Ladybug-like their dark-haired, funny and forthright friend is.

“And if that doesn’t work?” He asked.

“We shut them in a cage together until they talk. It worked for us.” She said, only half joking.

 

They didn’t get the chance to act out the plan.

That morning, class was interrupted by a crash outside the window. Honking horns and shouting followed. Max, Juleka, Alix and Sabrina all dashed to the window to report that a learner driver had crashed into some parked cars. Miss Bustier tried to call the class to order until further shouting revealed that the driving instructor and another motorist had got into an altercation over the accident. Soon the whole class and their teacher were at the window, watching the drama unfold. 

Alya saw it first.

The black and purple butterfly radiated with evil power as it fluttered over the wreckage. It alighted on the learner driver and Alya gasped as she saw the glow of Hawkmoth’s mask as he took control of his victim. 

With a roar and creaking of metal, she transformed and grew into Wrecking Ball. Soon, she was nearly 10 metres tall and, swinging on a thick chain from her right hand was the reason for her name. The heavy metal ball swung into the cars below, crushing them instantly. The rebound reduced the building across the road to rumble.

“We need to get out of here!” Alya shouted. 

She started ushering her classmates out of the room and away from danger. Nino hung back to make sure she left, too.

“I know what you’re like when there’s an opportunity to get footage for the Lady blog.” He said as he practically shoved her to safety. “Hey, does Marinette know that’s the janitor’s closet she’s going into?”

Alya’s eye followed the end of Nino’s finger to a rapidly closing door with the sign reading, ‘cleaning supplies’. She smirked. Then a pink flash of light illuminated the cracks around the doorframe. Alya’s smile dissolved as her jaw dropped open.

She was speechless, something Nino had never witnessed before. Her hand was squeezing his arm so tightly he knew it was going to bruise. He should brush her off, but the pain was the only thing reassuring him that he was wide awake right now. The door opened and the pair dived to cover, peering around the corner from the relative shelter of the alcove they’d found in their haste.

Ladybug sneaked furtively from Marinette’s hiding place. Glancing around, she saw she was alone and broke into a run to go battle the akuma Nino had forgotten existed.

His jaw opened and closed like he was a fish, but no sound came out. One look at his girlfriend told him she was in a similar state of shock.

“Dude. Did you see that too?” She eventually asked, eyes like saucers.

Nino nodded, dumbfounded.

“That means Adrien’s crush is actually on Marinette!” Alya’s grip on his arm tightened.

Nino looked at his watch, 10.37am on February 22nd, the moment his smart, tenacious girlfriend - founder of the Ladyblog, Paris’s Ladybug expert, teen investigative journalist extraordinaire - utterly missed the point. 

“Al. Can we focus less on your desire to double date with Marinette and Adrien and more on the fact that our friend is a SUPERHERO?!” He said.

“Oh, yeah.” she shook her head as the sound of metal on metal shrieked and crashed in the background. “The Ladyblog!”

She snatched up her phone and dashed to the exit, determined to catch a few moments of footage. Nino followed, unwilling to let her face the danger alone. They arrived in time to see Cat Noir throw a pair of fuzzy dice to Ladybug. She tore them open and an akuma flittered out as stuffing fell to the ground. 

As Nino watched her purify the akuma and toss her Lucky Charm in the air to return Paris to pre-akuma normality, he wondered why he hadn’t noticed sooner. Sure, Marinette was clumsy and, in front of Adrien, a little unsure of herself, but she was also creative and fierce. Of course, the girl who always stood up for others and fought for what was right was Ladybug! 

He looked to Alya, “how are we going to deal with this?” She asked.

“I guess we talk to her later today. Tell what we know.” He said.

“We have to let her know that we’re going to keep her secret. I know how dangerous it could be for her and us if Hawkmoth ever found out we knew Ladybug’s identity.” Alya added.

Nino nodded. He was going to say that they should get back to class when a pale green light caught his attention. 

It flashed from an alleyway next to the school. Nino knew it was magical, like the light they’d witnessed during Ladybug’s transformation. Hers had been pink, though. Could he have witnessed Cat Noir’s detransformation? 

Adrien slunk from the alleyway looking left and right before surreptitiously strolling back towards the school. 

“Nino? What’s wrong?” Alya was concerned.

Nino’s face was in the palms of his hands, his whole body was shaking. Then, he laughed until tears were streaming down his face and he was gasping for air. He had to sit on the school steps for a moment to compose himself.

“I think it’s time for plan B.” He said.

At the end of the day, Nino and Alya grabbed their best friends and steered them towards an empty classroom. 

Inside the class, Alya sat her friend down. “Marinette, Nino and I saw something today…”

Outside, Nino put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Dude, after the akuma attack today, I saw something…”

“...and I need you to know…” they told their best buddies.

“That I’m not going to tell anyone,” Alya assured Marinette.

“Your secret is safe with me,” Nino promised Adrien.

“I know you’re Ladybug.” Marinette’s mouth dropped open.

“I know you’re Cat Noir.” Adrien turned white.

“...but there’s someone else I think you should talk to…” the pair said and Alya opened the door. 

“...we’ll leave you to it.” Nino looked at each of them, trying to convey his meaning. “We’ll be outside if you need us.”

They closed the door on two scared and confused looking teens, desperately hoping their plan worked. Alya had her ear against the keyhole, listening anxiously. 

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Nino was having second thoughts. The freaked out expressions on his friend’s face was worrying him.

“Are you forgetting who locked us in a cage together?!” Alya hissed. 

Oh, yeah. This was payback. Nino hoped this couple work things out like he and Alya did.   
  


“Hey,” Adrien said, nervously scratching the back of his neck. 

“Ha… hi.” Marinette stuttered. “Um, do… do you know too?” 

“Do you? Know, I mean.” Adrien sat next to Marinette at the desk. “Nino wasn’t to clear on who else saw me.”

“Saw you? I thought they saw me… Saw you what?” Mariette asked.

“Wait… they saw you? Adrien shook his head. “I can’t believe I was so careless. Ladybug is going to kill me.”

“Why would I… um… “ Marinette looked like a rabbit in headlights as Adrien’s face jerked up to hers.

“I?” He said. “You’re..?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I’m sorry I never told you, but I have to keep my identity secret, for the safety of my family and friends. If Nino and Alya hadn’t seen me, I wouldn’t be telling you now, but they thought it was important.

Adrien exhaled a sigh so loud and long that Marinette wondered if he might have a slow puncture. The colour returned to his cheeks and a smile spread across his face. He took her hands in his.

“My Lady.” He winked, “I think we were both a little careless today.”   
  


Simultaneous flashes of green and pink light told the pair their work was done. Their friends knew each other’s secret identities, the rest was inevitable. Nino watched Alya’s satisfied grin and chuckled. 

“You, girl, are an evil genius.” He told her.

“I prefer criminal mastermind, but thanks for the compliment.” She said. “Now, where should we go on our double date?”


End file.
